SLJ was on hand to fete the 40th anniversary celebration of the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) on November 3 with luminaries from the children’s literature and YA world, including honorees Neil Gaiman and Robie Harris, and NCAC co-chair Judy Blume.

During the event at Manhattan’s Bank Street College of Education, Leonard S. Marcus, Brian Pinkney, Jason Chin, Coe Booth, Tim Federle, Matt de la Peña, and others talked about why they do what they do.

Participants in a New York Public Library Children’s Literature Salon discussed pressing censorship issues, from self-censorship by authors and librarians to schools that rate titles for appropriateness, and the chilling impact a challenge can have on a book.

Jan Ormerod, author and illustrator of many books for young children, died Wednesday in England. Ormerod began her kid-lit career more than 30 years ago after the birth of her first child; previously she taught art and design. Her first book, Sunshine, won the 1982 Mother Goose Award for British kid lit and was named the Australian Picture Book of the Year and an ALA Notable Book.